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Adam Cohen, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a merit-based award for college students who plan to pursue careers in government or in public service, wish to attend graduate or professional school to help prepare for their careers and are U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals. He is among 60 students awarded Truman Scholarships this year and is the 22nd Truman Scholar from Penn since 1981.

Cohen, of Scarborough, Me., is pursuing a major in urban studies in the School of Arts & Sciences. He is engaged in evidence-based social policy improvements in both Philadelphia and in his home state.

Cohen’s work at Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships has helped improve post-secondary success initiatives in West Philadelphia public high schools. He has worked with Netter affiliated faculty members to develop and coordinate three college-access programs that serve high school juniors and seniors and has also contributed to improving Penn’s Academically Based Community Service program.

Cohen serves on the Netter Center Student Advisory Board and also on the Executive Council of the Christian Association Dana How Scholars Program, which seeks to increase undergraduate involvement in West Philadelphia. After graduating, Cohen hopes to continue working on education and community development initiatives in Philadelphia.

University of Pennsylvania graduate Jake Gutman has been named a 2015 Carnegie Junior Fellow, and will serve as a research assistant at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

John Paul “Jake” Gutman is a 2014 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, receiving a BA (with distinction) in Political Sciences and a BA in Modern Middle Eastern Studies. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and was a Civic Scholar. Gutman is currently a Visiting Research Associate at Queen’s University Belfast in the United Kingdom where he is conducting research on the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups in the Middle East and North Africa. Under Professor Beverley Milton-Edwards, a leading expert on Islamism and Middle Eastern politics, he has edited and revised the manuscript for her forthcoming book on the Muslim Brotherhood since the Arab Spring.

Gutman is one of ten fellows selected from a national pool of 400 participating universities this year, and is the second Carnegie Junior Fellow from the University of Pennsylvania.

President Amy Gutmann today announced the selection of five undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania as the inaugural President’s Engagement Prize recipients. Awarded annually to Penn students to design and undertake fully-funded local, national or global engagement projects during the first year after they graduate, the President’s Engagement Prizes underscore the high priority that Penn places on educating students to put their knowledge to work for the betterment of humankind.

They are Cassi Henderson and Jocelyn Perry, 2013 Penn graduates, and Nicolette Taku, a student at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.

Henderson, who graduated from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Her research will focus on investigating the fabrication of medical diagnostic kits through additive manufacturing. Defining a platform for linking chemistry needs with ease of manufacture could ultimately enable affordable, rapid and point-of-care detection of diseases.

Perry, a graduate of the School of Arts & Sciences. will pursue an M.Phil. in international relations and politics, focusing on post-conflict reconstruction and governance arrangements in Africa’s Great Lakes region. She has worked as a disaster responder with the American Red Cross and as a fellow with the New Sector Alliance’s Residency in Social Enterprise program in Chicago. She hopes to continue working on the development of inclusive government systems and advocating for displaced and marginalized populations

Taku, plans to pursue an M.Phil. in oncology. Her first hands-on exposure to international health care came as an undergraduate when she researched Lassa fever in Sierra Leone. After working with a non-governmental organization in Colombia, Taku recognized the increasing burden of cancer in regions affected by infectious diseases. She plans to work on the development of cancer prevention and treatment infrastructures in low- and middle-income countries.

Henderson, Perry and Taku are among 40 U.S. recipients of Gates Cambridge Scholarships this year and bring to 27 the number of Gates Cambridge Scholars from Penn since the inception of the program in 2001.

The Thouron Award, a graduate exchange program between Penn and British universities, aims to improve relations between the United States and the U.K. Winners receive tuition and stipends for one or two years depending on the time required to earn a graduate degree. The Thouron Award was established and is supported by gifts from Sir John Thouron and the late Esther du Pont, Lady Thouron, of Unionville, Pa.

Graduating Penn seniors, current Penn graduate or professional students and recent Penn graduates who are U.S. citizens are eligible to apply. Additional information about the Thouron Award is at www.thouronaward.org/.

First- and second-year students in any undergraduate college at Penn are invited to apply for this summer’s eighth annual Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring program (PURM). Students selected to participate in PURM receive $3,500 to support their living expenses and research, and faculty mentors receive $1,500 to supplement and support the student researcher. PURM is a great opportunity to get deeper into a field that might interest you, and to get a taste of what academic research is all about. Over 150 faculty members from across Penn's schools have posted over 250 possible research projects in a wide variety of fields to engage students. Applications are due electronically to Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) by:12:00 Noon February 23

There will be information sessions on February 10th and February 13th at 4:00 PM in the ARCH Fireside Room.

“Rutendo is a great representative of the outstanding and dynamic students at Penn,” said Andrew Binns, vice provost for education in Penn’s Office of the Provost. “We are very proud of her success, and we are grateful to the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships and to all the faculty and staff who supported her work.”

“CURF is delighted to see Rutendo’s outstanding academic performance and her initiative in starting her own social engagement project recognized by the Rhodes Committee,” said Harriet Joseph, CURF director.

Chigora, a senior, is a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and Penn World Scholar pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in international relations and political science, with concentrations in international development and political economy.

She has conducted research on microfinance in Ghana, post-apartheid economic identities in South Africa and the impact of social and economic remittances on African development. Chigora founded ZW Connect, a business incubator that creates economic opportunities for vulnerable communities in Zimbabwe. ZW Connect was a social venture challenge winner at the 2014 Clinton Global Initiatives University Conference.

University of Pennsylvania senior Emmett Wynn wanted to get a glimpse of what graduate school would be like before diving into the application process. So the comparative literature and intellectual history major from Albuquerque, N.M., enrolled in “J. M. Coetzee: Fiction, History, Theory,” a graduate course in the English department and African Studies Program in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences. There he found not only the affirmation he sought but also a deep fascination with the work of this Nobel Prize-winning South African-born novelist.